A HALL OF A MENTOR: Mets reliever Bobby Parnell has dominated in spring training, allowing no runs with eight strikeouts, and he can thank legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax, who spoke with Parnell earlier this month.AP; Mike Puma

A HALL OF A MENTOR: Mets reliever Bobby Parnell has dominated in spring training, allowing no runs with eight strikeouts, and he can thank legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax (inset), who spoke with Parnell earlier this month. (AP; Mike Puma)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Bobby Parnell can send a thank you to Sandy Koufax and Jason Isringhausen when he breaks camp with the Mets next week.

The Mets just wanted to see a sign of life from Parnell this spring after a catastrophic two months to end last season. They have instead received dominance, in the form of no runs allowed over 8 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts, spanning nine appearances.

It has left the Mets with a potentially valuable complement to new additions Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez, all of whom have struggled this spring, in a revamped bullpen.

Koufax, in his visits to camp, has preached location to Parnell. But that advice alone may not have helped if Isringhausen, in his final days as a Mets reliever last season, hadn’t taught Parnell a curveball.

“I’ve been throwing the curveball and focusing on that,” Parnell said yesterday. “It’s coming out real easy, and I’ve been able to throw it for strikes. I throw it ahead in the count and behind in the count.”

Parnell used to rely on a slider as his second pitch, but threw it so hard that hitters’ timing wasn’t disrupted. He began toying with the curveball in the final weeks of last season.

The curveball’s success has allowed him to take Koufax’s advice closer to heart and start throwing high heat, with the intent of producing foul balls.

“Sandy told him he’s got to learn to pitch upstairs,” manager Terry Collins said. “I know Sandy said, ‘This guy has got too good an arm not to have guys fouling balls off of him all the time.’ If he throws upstairs, he will change their eyesight. He’ll get some swings and misses up there, too.”

But Parnell said he needed to master the curveball before he could focus on getting hitters to chase the high fastball.

“Sandy wants to see more fastballs fouled straight back,” Parnell said. “That comes with me being able to elevate, and for me to elevate I have to be down [with the curveball] first.”

Though Francisco, Rauch and Ramirez have struggled, Collins said Parnell is destined to pitch the sixth or seventh inning, lengthening the Mets’ bullpen.

Parnell auditioned for the closer’s role over the final two months of last season and flopped, leaving the Mets to seek other options.

“Bobby came in this camp and we wanted to see how does he react after last year?” Collins said. “He’s done nothing but worked on some things, gotten better, locating it and putting him in some situations, not just against minor league guys, but putting him against big league hitters, and they haven’t been taking very good swings.

“As things go, he’s going to be an important piece. He’s been there when it’s crunch time. He knows how to deal with it.”

Parnell doesn’t have to examine the statistics to know he has had a good spring.

“My confidence is definitely a lot higher right now, and my pitches, I’ve definitely heard a lot of good feedback,” he said. “Everybody is real high on me. As long as I can keep my confidence up and keep battling, I think I have a good chance to be a key factor on the team.”